OILERS, KINGS FORGE A PLAYOFF TRILOGY
Edmonton won both series in 2022 and '23, but L.A. will surely have learned lessons
Rinse and repeat and we'll see what comes out in the wash.
Colour the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings a continuing spin cycle. Three straight first-round playoff matchups. That hasn't happened for the Oilers since they drew the Dallas Stars three consecutive Aprils in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and didn't have the horses to beat Eddie Belfour, Mike Modano and Sergei Zubov, losing all three times.
Usually sequels lose audience interest (Calgary- Oilers in the Battle of Alberta days aside), so we'll see.
Here are 10 points to ponder going into the series:
1. Can the Oilers win a Game 1 against L.A.? The Oilers have been playing catch-up the last two playoffs. They lost the opener 4-3 in 2022 with Anze Kopitar scoring on a power play with 17 seconds left in the third and Alex Iafallo getting the OT winner, also on a power play. Same story in 2023, exact same score, with Phil Danault getting the deflection winner with five minutes left in the third.
2. How will the expected Danault on Connor McDavid matchup go? We've seen it for two OilersKings playoffs now. Danault is one of the best two-way centres in the league. He's had 10 points in the 13 playoff games and he's centring a strong but small second line with Trevor Moore and Viktor Arvidsson.
But McDavid, who has seen William Karlsson and Adam Lowry in other checking matchups in other playoff series, has been McDavid in his 13 games against L.A. He has 24 points.
3. What's the over and under on how many times Leon Draisaitl, who loves to possess the puck, shrugs and dumps the puck in against the Kings? We all know 29 is loath to go that route, but the L.A. playbook is a passive 1-3-1 defensive scheme, He routinely makes those wonderful passes through skates and sticks once inside the blue-line, but he's had to change his modus operandi. It's worked because the Oilers have beaten L.A., but a slice of him dies with the dump-in.
“Yeah, a little piece, it's just unfortunate, it's quite sad,” said Draisaitl.
4. Sidebar on Draisaitl. He suffered a high ankle sprain in Game 6 in 2022 when Kings defenceman Mikey Anderson took him to the ice during a scrum with what appeared to be a slewfoot. They respect one another as competitors, but there's no love lost here. Reverse hit by Draisaitl and a few slashes are probably coming.
5. How long before we see Corey Perry and Drew Doughty in each other's grill around the crease? The Oilers' Perry is the king of sneak, as everybody knows and Doughty is maybe the most competitive defenceman in the league. But they actually like each other. Perry was at Doughty's Stanley Cup party in 2012 when L.A. won and Doughty was at Perry's in 2007 when the Ducks won. They live close to each other in London, Ont., and hang out. They were teammates on the gold medal-winning Canadian Olympic teams in 2010 and 2014.
6. The Oilers have the edge in net, don't they? This is Stu Skinner's second go-round against L.A. in the playoffs. Give him a Bon his report card in the first test last spring. He didn't ace it, he didn't steal any games, but he was better as the series wore on than Joonas Korpisalo, now in Ottawa. We'll see if ex- Oiler Cam Talbot or David Rittich gets the L.A. start in Game 1. Nice storyline here if it's Talbot, but he lost both regular-season starts (one in a shootout on Derek Ryan's winner) and he gave up four goals on 13 shots to the Hawks in Game 82. Rittich did beat Edmonton 4-0 and lost his other start 4-2, so maybe they go with Rittich.
7. Will the Kings have any answers for Zach Hyman? We've applauded Hyman's breakout 54-goal regular season, third most to Auston Matthews' 69 and Sam Reinhart's 57, but Hyman has been a major weapon with 14 goals and 27 points in his last 28 playoff games against L.A., Colorado and Vegas. He's created a lot of playoff noise.
8. Will we see Dylan Holloway somewhere in the series? He has five points in the last six games after his recall, and the Oilers could use his speed, but unless there's an injury to a left winger, where does he play in the top nine? Playoff action would greatly enhance Holloway's development, but odds are Holloway watches unless Evander Kane is hurt and can't go.
9. While Kopitar is a slam-dunk hall of famer, out against Draisaitl in a big-boy matchup, don't the Oilers have to be circling winger Adrian Kempe on their dressing room whiteboard? His speed, size and shot are problematic for the Oilers. In the last two playoffs he's attempted 104 shots in 13 games (64 on net). He had five goals and eight points last spring, and has 14 points in 13 games over the past two years.
10. Jeff Jackson is running the Oilers' ship now, but McDavid's former agent is also the former agent for the Kings' Quinton Byfield, the second overall pick in the 2020 draft. So his emotions may be torn a little. Byfield hit 20 goals for the first time this season, the first time an L.A. player 21 or younger hit that mark since Kopitar in 2008-09.